With Blade: Sword of Elysion’s release on mobile, MonsterVine had a chat with 4:33 Creative Lab’s EVP of Global Publishing Won Cho. In our interview, we chatted over 4:33’s entry into the Western market and their perspective about the diverse suite of games coming from the Seoul-based publishing house.
What’s the gaming development scene like in Seoul? Are there many competitors? Any developer meetups?
Cho: We estimate that there are over 1000 development studios are in Korea, and you could say 80-90% of them are in the Seoul Capital Area. Given Korea’s small market (population-wise), this creates huge competition. Mobile Game Developer meetups are not a huge trend in Korea, but they are becoming more and more prevalent especially in the indie gaming scene.
Q: On your company page, it mentions a ‘cooperation’ pipeline with developers, are you strictly an external studio publisher or do you also develop games in-house?
Cho: We have an in-house development team and we also invest in many of our developers.
Q: In 4:33’s perspective, why make an entry to the Western market now? Isn’t it very competitive?
Cho: We believe that Korean mobile games are very advanced due to Korea’s rich gaming history and world class mobile infrastructure. Korea has already seen some of the trends, whether it be monetization or game systems, that are currently gaining traction in Western markets. However, no Korean publisher has yet to be wildly successful in Western markets. We want to be the first to figure out what advanced features from Korea will work in the global market, while at the same time figuring out what new and exciting elements from global gaming trends will make our portfolio of games even better.
Q: What excites the team the most about mobile gaming in the Western market?
Cho: I think you see a bigger variety of ideas in the Western market and certain developers are not afraid of taking risks. Whether it be the effective video-ad monetization of Crossy Road or the out of this world level design of Monument Valley, we are very excited about sparking our creativity in the Western Market.
Q: What learnings has 4:33 gotten from the first public showcase of Blade: Sword of Elysion and how will it impact future games from the studio?
Cho: Due to the immense popularity of city-builders and casual genres in the US market, we were a little concerned about how a hardcore, console-like game would be received. However, we have gained confidence through our meetings with gamers; core gamers in the US seem to be looking for something that they can pick up on mobile. This is very important for our future games because we are well known in Korea for our action RPGs and core genres make up a majority of our portfolio. Our continued learning and performance in the mobile market core genres will directly influence what kinds of titles and the number of titles that we launch globally.
Q: What changes or accommodations are being made to 4:33’s games for the Western market?
Cho: In terms of localization, 4:33 is devoted to integrating our Western market and user behavioral analysis with our games by modifying our UI/UX, monetization schemes and balancing, not to mention smooth language translation. We have a dedicated team to reshape our games to accommodate the tastes and preferences of the users in the Western market.
Q: What audiences are you hoping to reach with a diverse portfolio of mobile games?
Cho: As mentioned before, 4:33’s identity as a Korean publisher is deeply connected to Action RPGs and core genres; however, we are very excited for more casual titles that we are planning to launch globally such as our one-touch casual arcade game Cubicar. We have such a diverse
portfolio that I believe we have something for almost any mobile user. So to answer your question, we are trying to reach the broadest audience possible.
We have some of the best gaming minds in Korea dissecting every single aspect of the game systems and user experience in hardcore RPGs, and we are not afraid to put these minds to work on a match three game or endless runner. We believe that anyone can become a gamer, and we are dedicated to finding, implementing, and improving core fun factors for all gamers.
Q: What do you think about virtual/augmented reality environments in mobile apps/games? Is that something the studio is currently looking into?
Cho: We are not currently looking into virtual/augmented reality, but some of our key members were pioneers for the mobile gaming industry (games for feature phones) so we are very open to new technologies. Virtual Reality may indeed be something that we look into soon.
Q: Are these titles going to be free or paid apps? How will the micro transaction strategy look like if there are IAPs (in-app purchases)?
Cho: All of our titles are free to play. Blade’s IAPs center around a hard currency, gems, along with packages that allow you get a leg up in the game. Gems can be used to purchase all sorts of things: higher grade equipment, XP boosts, costumes, gold, extra skill points and our packages offer a mixture of all these things. Packages definitely give you the most bang for your buck. However, we have designed the game so that it is still possible to gain access to many of these things without paying: by progressing in the game, checking in daily, completing quests and tackling missions.
Gems and packages are seen in many of our core titles, but we are also open to using other business models. For example, we are currently looking into implementing optional video ads as the main monetization point for one of our titles.
Q: Any interest in expanding to free-to-play PC games in the future?
Cho: We are currently very focused on mobile. We believe that mobile gaming will only continue to grow and that all sorts of media/entertainment consumption in general will keep shifting to the mobile environment.
